No Bake Energy Balls Recipe

This easy No Bake Energy Balls Recipe with rolled oats, peanut butter and dates makes a delicious healthy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth. Energy bites are the perfect snack for after school or whenever you need a quick pick-me-up!

I am always looking for easy snack recipes with healthy ingredients, especially during the school year. My kids are always starving when they come home from school, and they usually head straight for the fridge.

Luckily, they love munching on these portable little protein balls made with feel-good ingredients! This is definitely one of our favorite recipes for snack time.

Not only are these peanut butter bites easy to make, but they also taste absolutely delicious. My daughter thinks they taste like chocolate peanut butter bars — only healthier!

These no bake treats are a great option when you need a quick snack for after school sports, dance or other activities.

Rushed in the morning? These no bake energy bites are perfect for a quick breakfast and faster than overnight oats or a protein smoothie!

Simple Ingredients

This easy recipe uses simple pantry ingredients:

• Rolled oats — I use quick oats, but regular old fashioned oats are fine
• Peanut butter — Use creamy, all natural peanut butter without high fructose corn syrup if you can
• Dates — Pitted, either medjool dates or deglet noor are fine
• Honey — Adds sweetness without refined sugars
• Cinnamon — Ads flavor
• Chocolate chips — or mini chocolate chips, because chocolate makes everything better!

If you don’t already have the ingredients to make this delicious recipe on hand, you can pick them up at your local grocery store or online.

By the way, if you’re wondering if you can eat raw oats in energy balls, don’t worry. They are perfectly safe to eat!

How to Make Peanut Butter Energy Balls

First, finely chop the dates into small pieces. You’ll need 1/4 cup, which is about 7 or 8 dates.

Next, add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl. I find it easiest to mix everything by hand. If you don’t want to use your hands, you can use a food processor to mix everything together.

The mixture may seem dry at first. But, as you mix everything together, it comes together easily.

Once, the oat mixture is well incorporated, start forming the balls. Scoop up a teaspoon-sized amount of the mixture, using a teaspoon or mini cookie scoop. Then roll it into a ball, about 1/2 inch wide.

Place the balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet. When you finish forming all of the balls, store them in an airtight container.

Variations

This is pretty much a basic energy ball recipe. You can easily change up the ingredients to suit your own tastes.

Use raisins instead of dates. Skip the chocolate chips if you want an even healthier snack. You can also use different nut butters, like almond butter or cashew butter. You can try using seed butters instead of peanut butter.

Keep in mind, the texture and taste will change.

Storage

Store the energy balls in the refrigerator. While, it’s safe to leave them at room temperature, they’ll get too soft, especially if your house is warm.

They keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge, although ours never last that long! You can also keep energy bites in the freezer for longer storage. Just make sure you use a freezer safe container.

Not only are these peanut butter date balls are perfect for a quick snack at home or on the go, but they’re also a healthy midnight snack!

The teens can definitely use some extra energy for those late-night assignments that are due the next day but were somehow forgotten until the last second. Remember those days? Oh yeah, I have to confess that I do!

Recipe originally published in 2015 and updated in 2021

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